UTurn^TV

Yesterday I had lunch with the lovely Justin Turner who is the MD of Carrot Media.  I delivered my Team Building programme to him and his team just over a year ago when they were experiencing some operational and staff challenges.  Over a year later he has done a video for me where he explains that not only did Moments of Clarity resolve their issues in the short term but has had a long lasting effect on the team and the success of the business.

Thank you Justin.

Jules

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Anyone who is self-employed will know that there are as many positives as negatives in running your own business.  For me personally, one of the best positives is having the freedom to create my own environment.  Where I work, what hours I work, what decisions I make and…. what I wear.

I had a conversation recently with another business owner who, very casually, “and of course I put my best suit on for the meeting”.  Why it stuck in my mind I don’t know, however, I did begin to notice that many people mentioned this as part of their normal preparation for meetings.

I don’t wear suits anymore.  I spent more than 15 years going to offices where wearing a suit or formal business dress was an absolute must.  I remember ‘dress down Friday’s’ as a clothing nightmare because I had to think really hard about what to put on, which I never had to do Monday to Thursday.  I did think it was all a bit pointless anyway as there were more rules for what you couldn’t wear on Fridays which ended up being an apparel minefield.  These days I just wear what I want to wear, but then as I am self-employed I have that choice.

When in discussion with clients about who they are at work, many will say something to the effect that “I have my work personality and my home personality and my work personality comes off with my suit.”  It always strikes me as very odd that anyone would make a deliberate choice to assume two different personalities into their psyche, AND that they would associate one of them with a set of clothes.

It is clear that some areas of business where people work in offices are not holding fast to the idea that formal work wear is a necessity.  I can’t remember the last time I met someone who works in web design who wore a suit.  Whilst I imagine there have been one or two I have found on the whole there is a much more relaxed attitude to clothing.

It’s clear that the suited approach to business is one that is very deep seated in our culture and, in general, the expectation is that an important business meeting requires a suit.  During one conversation someone asked me “wouldn’t you wear a suit if you were going to an important meeting?”, the inference being that I would have no hope of sitting in front of a potential corporate client in my informal clothing and win any business.

When we look at others we make an instant judgement about them don’t we?  We make a judgement based on our own beliefs and prejudices and clothing plays a big part in our perception of others. We all know or have heard of billionaires who dress like they live on the streets and people who don’t have a bean to their name but are walking around in the latest designer gear. (My grandma always referred to them as ‘all fur coat and no underwear’.)

My skills, abilities, intelligence, dedication, determination, motivation do not change dependent upon what I wear but many of us set a great deal of store by what we see.

I would encourage all of us to take the time to look beneath the clothing (not literally obviously) and focus on who it is you are talking to, what they are saying and whether this is a person that you can connect with.

I for one will continue to dress the way I feel like dressing so if you meet me be sure and say how fab my outfit looks!

I would love to hear your views so please leave a comment below.

Lots and lots of love

Jules

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For those of  you out there who run your own businesses as I do you will understand some of the challenges that I sometimes face.  The continuing search for clients, balancing the books, delivering a quality service or product and just generally staying consistently on top of your game can be a real battle.  As  I work in the personal development and training arena which means we have the added challenge of having to ensure that I check in on my work/life balance and make sure it’s not overly tipped one way or the other, otherwise I could easily be seen as a hypocrite.

So far, the majority of my clients have come to me either through recommendation from existing clients or because they met me face to face and instantly ‘got me.’  This is wonderfully gratifying and it means that I know that everyone I deliver to is there because they understand that they will have a moment of clarity about the issues they are facing and be in a much better state of mind than when they first came to me.

In the last few weeks as I have been upping my game I have had a number of conversations with others where I have had to stand still and check in on what I am doing to make sure I am still on track. Given my line of work it is inevitable and right that I should do this.  I’m sure most of you out there do the same thing but I wonder how often you change direction, even by a tiny amount, based on how influenced you have been by outside forces.

Clearly there are some outside forces, such as the economy, which many of you have had no choice but to adapt to in order to survive.  However, I do wonder how much we are influenced to change direction and later regret it because we didn’t stay true to our core beliefs, what we are truly good at and what we love doing.

Whilst I will never have a problem with change for the better I think sometimes it’s very easy to think that an idea proposed or an opinion given should be cogitated over, absorbed and implemented.  For those of you who run your businesses alone, not having someone to bounce ideas off when these new shiny things jump up and down at you can be a much greater challenge.

I know that sometimes from the outside my work can be seen as ‘namby pamby’, ‘weird’ or just plain daft.  Added to that I tend to approach things in my own quirky, unique way which may look unconventional but really really works for me and my clients.

I never check out ‘the competition’ because I know it would be a waste of time and energy, and whilst some businesses need to do this to survive, it will never work for me.  I don’t do suits.  I would probably lose the will to live if I had to wear a suit to win a piece of business.  I don’t do brochures because I know that the majority of them will end up in the bin and a piece of paper could never express who I am. I dare to be different.  And it makes me very happy to work this way.  And ultimately, isn’t that the point?

I am so looking forward to growing my business in the way that I have chosen to do.  And what if I fail I hear some of you cry?  Not an option.  I love what I do too much for the money not to follow.

I would love to hear from you and particularly if you have some daring ideas on how you want to run your business but think it might be a bit too ‘out there’.

I wish you much love and joy and hope that life is treating you amazingly well.

Jules